Is it me, or can it possibly be the stone? (Poor results, Naniwa 1k/3k combo)

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I just realized that this is not a superstone, so anything I said about these stones being good are void.

On a bright side, I'd think of this more as an opportunity than an inconvenience.
It's a sign from the heavens to try out more new and exciting stones that you've never used!
There's always room for one more. Or two. Or three.

Z> IF you have managed to get the same knife sharpened on this particular stone then it obviates your technique; unless the condition of the of the knife is not the same then.

The Red 1000Grit is muddy and soft whilst the Tan 3000 Grit is hard. This I believe is the " home stone"

Wobble> I mainly use shorter strokes most of the time for better control and use lower half and upper half of the stone with blade extending below/ upper portion of the stone so as to wear off the stone ends adn hopefully when I do the long strokes to even out any irregular portion of knife which is mainly used for finishing; and hopefully that will prevent stone stone from eneven wear

Remove enough metal and a burr will form, general characteristic of metal. IF no fold/ burr.. simply means that you have not removed sufficiently Yet.
good luck
rgds and hv a nice week-end.

There is definitely a burr there. I found that the tan 3000 stone is very soft though, compared to the 1k side.

One thing I noticed with this Naniwa is it doesn't develop a slurry at all, and it just gets loaded right away (the black particles don't float in the slurry that would have been there, just gets embedded into the stone).

Originally Posted by Don Nguyen

I tried out your suggestion panda for lapping the stone many times, and it helped a ton! This stone does dish really, really quickly.

All new stones have a "crust" on them. On some stones it's less noticeable, while on others you will get complete garbage results (no slurry, slow metal removal, fast loading) until you lap the crust off. It sounds to me like that might have been the problem.

That stone is the old fashioned "natural stone mimic" type, and is quite soft. You must use a very light touch to avoid abrading it away faster than you can sharpen your knives, and must be careful to use as much of the surface as possible as evenly as possible to avoid serious dishing.

I would also recommend that you use the 3000 side like a strop -- pull the knife across the stone away from the edge, never push the edge into the stone. It is so soft you are more likely to dub the edge off than polish it!. Used as a strop you won't damage the edge and should be able to raise a dull polish. You aren't grinding at 3000 grit, you are polishing anyway.

Naniwa Super Stones are much better, Choseras are supposed to be better yet, but my favorite stone at the moment is a Bester 1200 grit stone. Very hard, cuts very fast, and stays very flat. I then strop on a 3000 grit Naniwa super stone or a 4000 grit King stone, I don't bother with the 8000 grit with my knives since they are Western stainless steel by and large and there is no real benefit.